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The Bar of the Dakar 2021. Loeb’s Mystery of the Night! – Dakar

Al Qaisumah – Ha’Il, Saudi Arabia, January 8-9. The longest day is the one that also includes the night. And it’s not a good thing, it’s not like here at the Bar that if it gets late it is because we have found the subject compelling and there are still bottles to execute. One time, a night in the open at the Dakar it was almost common practice, in many cases and for the lucky ones it could happen several times. To the Lonely motorcyclist, once the last rocket had been fired, all that remained was to bring out the survival sheet, dig in the sand or find shelter in the bush, swallow the toad and the emergency ration. For motorists, the situation was better, but not perfect. In the meantime they were in company, they stayed inside the car and maybe they had some more clothes and food. But sooner or later the cold came, to make them regret having ripped off all the “heavy” insulation when setting up the prototype, even the homemade one. For everyone the imperative was to try to sleep and hope that dawn would come as soon as possible. At dawnindeed, together with the consolation of the rising of the sun, searches started.

The location of the missing person was estimated, referred to the testimony of another competitor, and even the ease of survival depended in part on aid. A second towel, a little water, a little food, if a Russian had passed, even one bottle of vodka. Then there was an intermediate time in which the night was more comfortable because, with the advent of GPS he was born in Tracking, the organizers knew perfectly well where the “missing person” was and in what conditions he was. Bright dots on the big screen in the dark of the plane PC Course. They were the missing, they had often been warned and the night in the desert was now part of the choreography and the myth, which had to be fed. Then came the satellite phones, then i GSM that here outside the city they do not work but in the deserts of the oilmen they do not have a single field hole, and the night in the desert is a diversion, the evocation of legend. You call the bivouac, the assistants, even your home to reassure, and organize the operation to get you out of the discomfort. This does not detract from that the night in the desert affects moods, Also today. Especially if you left at dawn hoping for a result.

And so also happened to the WRC legend Sebastien loeb. After having punctured N times, having been penalized and having grazed in the previous days, around the KM 100 a suspension of the BRX Hunter gave way. I guess it didn’t happen out of jealousy of the metal towards the champion. And I guess the fury of the turning of boxes has started. Unable to repair, Dakar up in smoke, there is a contract of three years with the Bahrain Raid Xtreme Team and therefore it is worthwhile to continue to collect data. So recovery in decent times is mandatory. Hours go by. Six, seven, eight. He left at 10, it is dark and Leob is still around CP2. Daniel Elena, the Navigator who will never lose heart, launches a post (and it seemed to you) that serves both to reassure and to confirm that both will come back to avenge this damned Dakar!

At this point, everyone is fine, the debate can take place at the Bar.

– “Loeb is a hero. He is spending the night in the desert like a gladiator! He’s lucky if he doesn’t freak out, but he won’t, he’s an extraterrestrial. “

– “Be quiet, Loeb is a jerk because if instead of looking for mange he had had more regard for the car, he would not have broken up and would be at the bivouac answering the questions of the good Chen of Red Bull TV. “

– “Here, here comes he who knows everything. But he does not know that that revolutionary suspension, so low to free the horizon, is not the revolution, it is just a grain and we have seen it well. It is not enough to be good at making rally cars, like those English balls, this is the Dakar!

in conclusion the process has started. Did Loeb do well or did he do wrong? It is enough to be an unbeatable champion in one specialty to be an unbeatable champion in another, and especially in the Dakar where must the brain come before the throttle?

At midnight, the BRX left and it is at the time of the CP4, at two in the morning we are now at the last CP before arrival, at 3 am a hot dinner and the warmth of the motorhome. Adventure, little, discomfort and dizziness, nothing serious. We are still here drinking and judging, reduced worse despite the most absolute, rigorous, legal refusal of a single drop of alcohol.

And where is the adventure then? Who are the heroes of the Dakar Night?

I say veil, the Barista. The heroes of the Dakar are the Truckers! Today like yesterday. Jordi Esteve Oro, the mythical, stainless, legendary Rafal Tibau e Arnald Bastida, the Crew of the Man #532 of BRX assistance. That after having helped Loeb and Elena and after having made them leave again, while the “Heroes” are already in the spaghetti straight is once again stopped on the track between CP 3 and 4 in the company of colleagues from the Daf 528 dei Dust Warriors Dutch. Another breakdown to remedy? The decision to bivouac and leave at dawn? Those are the Heroes!

IS the night of the hidden stars from the sabers of the headlights, by Tibau & Co .. First you stop for hours at Loeb’s car, then … wait a moment … then leave again for an external track leading to the bivouac, two hundred kilometers round trip from the CP probably looking for something … and then back to the car and on the Special track …

… But this remains the little mystery of Loeb’s night. Come on, we’ll know tomorrow. Are we prone with those spaghetti?

© Images: “Nani” Roma Media, BRX, Red Bull Content Pool, X-raid, Toyota Gazoo Racing, ASO, KTM, Honda, Rally Zone, Francesca Gasperi

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